Reclining chair



Aug. 22, 1939.

H. L. SCHUMPERT RECLINING CHAIR Filed Aug. 25, 1938 INVENTOR Harry L. Schum/aerl' 'ORNEY.

Patented Aug. 22, 1939 UNITED STATES REGLINING CHAIR Harry L. Schumpert, Greenville, S. 0., assignor of two-thirds to J. B. Orders, Greenville, S. 0.

Application August 23, 1938, Serial No. 226,225

2 Claims.

This invention relates to chairs or lounges having hinged adjustable back-rests, and more particularly to the mechanism for adjusting the back-rest and for securing it in the adjusted position, v

The object of the invention mainly is to simplify the construction and reduce the number of parts and thereby reduce the cost of manufacture of the adjusting and retaining mechanism; to so construct the mechanism that its application to a reclining chair is much simplified; to simplify the operation for adjusting the back-rest; and generally to provide a mechanism which may be applied to a chair without altering or marring the design or appearance of the chair.

Many mechanisms have been employed and proposed for adjusting and securing the backrests of reclining chairs and lounges, but generally the manufacturing costs were high and the construction and arrangement has been such as to render the operation awkward and complicated and generally required the release of the locking device in effecting both the forward and backward adjustment of the'back-rest.

In carrying my invention into effect I employ for the adjustable retaining means for the backrest a one-piece ratchet-bar which is pivotally and slida'bly attached to the back-rest, and a locking-dog pivoted in a housing through which the bar slides; the housing having spaced bearing surfaces for the toothed section of the bar, and the teeth of the bar being so formed and spaced and provided with lands whereby the bar is prevented froin tilting or binding in the locking-dog house when shifting back and forth in adjusting the back-rest. I also provide a pivot plate on the back-rest to which the ratchet-bar is pivotally and slidably attached by means of a slot in the plate and a pin or roller on the bar, and which slot is cut in the plate at an angle extending upward and forward relative to the ratchet-bar sothat the slot in all positions of the back-rest will present an angle relative tothe bar never less than a right angle, thereby causing the pivot of the ratchet-bar to always rest on the near'surface or the slot when there is pressure on the back-rest, and such surface will therefore in all positions of the back-rest, except the extreme reclining position, serve as a cam or wedge for holding the ratchet-bar in position against the underside of the arm-rest, and in the extreme position where the slot will stand at approximately a right angle, the pressure on the back,- rest will effect a direct straight-line pull on the bar. That is to say, pressure against the backrest will not at any position between the limits of its adjustment cause a downward pressure on the ratchet-bar. Thus the provision of ratchet teeth with lands in combination with the spaced pivoted in the housing by pivot pin Ill.

bearing surfaces in the locking-dog housing and the pivot plate with the angularly positioned slot in the pivot plate permits employing a single piece bar which may be either round or rectangular in cross-section and may be concealed in a slot on the underside of the arm-rest of the chair to which the locking-dog housing is secured, and avoids the necessity for a separate housing or other fixture for maintaining the ratchet-bar in position against the underside of the arm-rest while permitting free sliding movement.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,-

Figure l is a side elevation of a reclining chair with my adjusting mechanism applied thereto.

Figure 2 an enlarged plan view of the mechanism.

Figure 3 a longitudinal side view of the mechanism.

Figure 4 a view similar to Figure 3 showing the relative position of the pivot plate to the ratchetbar in a tilted position of the back-rest of the chair, and

Figure 5 a View illustrating a modified form of slot for the pivot plate.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to Figure l which illustrates in conventional form a reclining chair, and in which i indicates the arm-rests, 2 the seat frame, and 3 the backrest which may be hinged in any suitable manner at its lower rail to theseat frame 2 the hinges for this purpose may be of any suitable type, but I prefer to employ spring hinges indicated at 4 having a coiled spring within the barrel tending to hold the back-rest in its upright position.

The mechanism for adjusting and securing the back-rest in position, comprises as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, a ratchet-bar 5; a pivot plate 6 with which the bar 5 is pivotally and slidably connected by means of a pin or roller 1 working in a slot in the pivot plate; and a locking-dog B pivoted in a housing 9 secured to the underside of the arm-rest and through which housing the ratchet-bar slides.

The housing '9 as illustrated; is in the form of a channelled block, Figure 2, having longitudinal side walls between which bar '5 has a sliding fit and the upper surface of the bar being sufiiciently below the upper surface 9*, Figure 3, of the block toavoid clamping the bar to the arm-rest of the chair when the housing is secured in position. The housing block is provided with four or more screw-holes $1 for wood screws. The base of housing block 9 is cut out the full width of the channel to receive the locking-dog 8 which .is The length of the block '9 is such as to provide bearing surfaces 9 and 9 for the lands 5* of the ratchetbar teeth, Figure 3, and it will be noted that the length of the teeth, the width of the lands and the It will be noted that the pivot point of the locking-dog is nearer to the operating end of the dog thereby efiecting a long movement of the locking tooth with a relatively short movement of the operating end, thus affording a quick release and easy sliding movement of the ratchet-teeth of bar over the locking-dog when raising the back-rest to its upright position. The web of block 9 forming the bearing surface 9 and the upper side of the operating end of the locking-dog are recessed, as shown in Figure 3, to receive a light coiled spring I l for moving the dog into locking engagement with the teeth of the ratchet-bar. To provide for easy operation of the locking-dog where the arm-rest is broad, the locking-dog has an arm l2 and finger-piece l2, the arm projecting laterally from the locking-dog as seen in Figure 2. To cushion the locking-dog and reduce the click as it rides off the lands of the ratchet teeth, a thin pad l3 of leather, rubber or other suitable material is applied to the lip l4, the pad being held by squeezing into a saw-cut across the end of the dog as seen in Figure 3. The pad 13 and lip l4 project beyond the end of the dog 8 so as to contact the underside of bearing section 9 and limit the inward movement of the locking-dog.

The ratchet-bar may be applied directly to the underside of the arm-rest or in a slot to entirely conceal the bar and extends beyond the armrest, Figure 1, for pivotal connection to the pivot plate 6 which is firmly secured to the side bars of the back-rest. The pivot plate which may be of any desired shape or design, is provided with an oblique slot 85 inclined forward relative to the bar 5 and forming an obtuse angle therewith when the back-rest is in the upright position as seen in Figure 4. The pivot pin 1 as illustrated in Figure 2 is provided with flanges l to retain it in the slot N3 of the pivot plate.

The purpose of the slot in the pivot plate and its angular position relative to the bar 5 is twofold. First, the purpose of the slot is to afford a sliding connection between the bar 5 and the back-rest 3 when the latter swings on its hinges as illustrated in Figure 4; and second, the forward slant of the slot is to prevent pressure against the back-rest acting on the pivot" pin 1 to force bar 5 downward away from the armrest. On the contrary pressure against the backrest as seen in Figure 4 will tend to cause the inner edge of the pivot plate slot to serve as a cam or wedge acting against the pin 1 to press the bar 5 upward and hold it in contact with the underside of the arm-rest, and this functioning of the pivot plate plus the width of the lands 5* of the ratchet teeth riding on the bearing surfaces 9 and 9 of the locking-dog housing will always maintain and cause the bar 5 to slide back and forth in a right line without binding or cramping in the housing 9, and without the necessity of providing any other suppor or bearing for the ratchet-bar.

In operating the back-rest of the chair to shift from the upright position of Figures 1 and 4, all that is necessary is to release the locking-dog by light pressure on the finger-piece l2 and pressure on the back-rest will draw the bar 5 backward, and when the desired inclination is obtained pressure on the finger-piece is relaxed and the dog 8 will lock the bar in the adjusted position. During this movement of the bar the pivot pin 1 rides down in the slot I5 but the angle of the slot prevents downward movement of the bar, and hence the bar slides in contact with the arm-rest in a straight line and through the locking-dog housing without binding therein. When the back-rest is tilted to the limit of its backkward movement, approximately fortyfive degrees as illustrated in Figure 4, the slot l5 of the pivot plate will be at a right angle to the bar 5 and hence pressure on the back-rest will still cause a direct straight line pull on the bar. In returning the back-rest to its upright position it is not necessary to release the locking-dog, since with the easy tilting of the locking-dog and the straight line movement of the bar 5, the pivot plate will push the bar through the housing 9 while the teeth of the bar ride freely over the locking-dog and the bar will be locked at any desired angle of the back-rest.

To limit the extent of fore and aft movement of the ratchet bar, a pair of stop pins l6 are fixed in the bar which abut against the housing block 9 to limit the sliding of the bar through the housing in either direction. The pin at the forward end of the bar is spaced from the first ratchet tooth a distance which when the bar is shifted backward to the extreme limit the locking dog will fall into the first tooth and therefore this stop pin does no sustain the pressure on the back-rest.

What I claim is:

1. In a reclining chair, the combination with a hinged back-rest, of a ratchet-bar sliding on the underside of the arm-rest, a locking-dog for engaging the teeth of said bar pivoted in a housing secured to the underside of the arm-rest and through which said bar slides, and a slotted pivot plate fixed on the back-rest to which said bar is pivotally and slidably attached, the slot in said plate extending upwardly and forwardly relative to the ratchet-bar and whereby the engagement of the pivot in said slot causes the ratchet-bar to be held upward to prevent cramping of the bar at the locking-dog housing.

2. In a reclining chair, the combination with a hinged back-rest, of a ratchet-bar sliding on the underside of the arm-rest, the teeth of said bar being on the underside and spaced by lands, a channelled block secured to the underside of the arm-rest and through which said bar slides, a locking-dog pivoted in said block to engage the teeth of said bar and permit free movement of said bar in one direction, and said block having a'pair of bearing surfaces spaced relative to the spacing of the lands of the ratchet-bar teeth to provide a two point bearing for said lands as the bar slides through said block, and a slotted pivot plate fixed on the back-rest to which said bar is pivotally and slidably attached,

the slot in said plate extending upwardly and forwardly relative to the ratchet-bar and where'- by the engagement of the pivot in said slot causes the ratchet-bar to be held upward to prevent cramping of the bar at the locking-dog housing;

' HARRY L. SCI-IUlVIPER-T. 

